Allan Holdsworth – Velvet Darkness (1976)

“This might not be a record that Allan really likes because it’s very raw and uncontrolled. It came out on CTI, and it’s almost the same band that’s on the Tony Williams Lifetime album, which was the first time that Allan popped into view in America.

“It was a game-changer in that it was the antithesis of Di Meola; it’s modal, with lots of chromaticism, and it’s legato versus every note being picked. It’s more Coltrane-ish and less constricted.

“Nobody played like that, to my knowledge. The difference between the first Van Halen record and the second one is easily explainable – it's because Eddie had heard Holdsworth. Nobody can tell me anything different.”